Method and machine for packing a rope into a container

ABSTRACT

A rope (21) is packed into a container (31) in such a manner as to permit easy extraction therefrom in that the rope by means of a winding head (25) is coiled with the coil center situated between the center line and periphery of the container (31). For this purpose a rope supply reel (20) is mounted on a supporting device (15) which is rotatable about a fixed vertical shaft (30). The rope (21) is pulled from the reel (20) down into the container (31) by means of the winding head (25) which is connected to the supporting device (15) for rotation with it. The winding head (25) is arranged in the space between the center line and periphery of the container, and means (30, 34-42) are provided to rotate the container (31) about its axis and at the same time axially displace the container so that layer after layer of line coils are placed upon each other.

This invention relates to a method of packing a rope into a container insuch a manner as to permit easy extraction of the rope therefrom, inwhich method the rope is withdrawn from a supply reel and led down intothe container to be coiled therein with the coil centre situated betweenthe centre line and periphery of the container, while the container isrotated and a simultaneous relative axial movement is effected between awinding head and the container.

Survival equipments comprise a container with a rope which is intendedfor extraction by means of a rocket. For this reason it is of extremeimportance that the rope runs out with the least possible resistance.This naturally places great demands on the packing of the rope, which atpresent is made entirely by hand and thus of course implies high packingcosts. The reason why packing is carried out by hand simply is thathitherto no machine has been available, which is capable of performingthis work with the desired reliability.

The object of the present invention is to pack such a rope in a novelmanner so that all safety requirements are satisfied at the same time asthe packing of the rope can be carried out mechanically. This object isattained in that the rope is withdrawn from the supply reel by means ofthe rotating winding head and discharged from the head for coiling andis rotated or twisted about its longitudinal axis on its way down intothe container.

The invention also relates to a machine for packing a rope of this kind,said machine being characterised in that it comprises a frame with ashaft fixed at its upper end and extending a predetermined distancevertically downward, a supporting device rotatably mounted on the shaftand having a rope reel rotatably mounted thereon, a support means forthe container for supporting it such that its centre line extendsparallel to but laterally spaced from the fixed shaft, whereby saidshaft projects into the container with its axis situated in the spacebetween the centre line and periphery of the container, a rotary windinghead on the free end of the fixed shaft projecting into the container,said winding head being adapted, upon rotation, to withdraw the ropefrom the rope reel during the rotation of the reel supporting device andto coil the rope with the coil centre situated between the centre lineand periphery of the container, and means for rotating the rope reelsupporting device, the winding head and the support means with thecontainer and simultaneously axially moving the support means verticallydownward.

The invention will be more fully described below with reference to theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 in elevation shows an embodiment of the invention; and

FIGS. 2 and 3 on a larger scale show a winding head in section and frombelow.

According to FIG. 1 a machine according to the invention has a frame 10which is fixed to a bottom plate 11. At the top the frame has atransverse beam 12 in the centre of which a vertical shaft 13 is securedby means of a fastening device 14. The shaft 13 extends verticallydownward and a supporting device generally designated 15 is rotatablymounted at a distance from the transverse beam 12. The supporting device15 has a drive pulley 16 which is coaxial with the shaft 13 and aboutwhich a V-belt 17 is passed. The V-belt 17 is driven by a drive pulley18. Secured to the supporting device 15 is a holder 19 for rotaryaccommodation of a rope supply reel 20 onto which is wound a rope 21.The supporting device 15 at the underside of the V-belt pulley 16 has afastening 22 with which a tubular sleeve 23 is rigidly connected viaflange means. The sleeve 23 extends about the shaft 13 coaxiallytherewith down to the lower end of the shaft 13. Further, a tube 24 isconnected to the underside of the supporting device 15 and the upper endof the tube opens opposite the longitudinal centre of the reel 20mounted on the supporting device 15 while the lower end of the tube 24opens adjacent the outer periphery of the sleeve 23. The rope 21 isintended to be pulled via a bushing in the supporting device 15 downthrough the tube to the point adjacent the periphery of the sleeve 23and farther axially downward to a winding head 25 in the lower end ofthe shaft 13 and the sleeve 23.

As shown in FIG. 2, the winding head 25 consists of a cylindricalportion 26 which is fixed by means of a neck portion 52 and a stop screw(not shown) in the lower end of the sleeve 23. The cylindrical portion26 extends downward past the lower end of the fixed shaft 13 projectingfrom the sleeve 21 and has below said lower end a cylindrical space. Theportion 26 which defines the cylindrical space, and the neck portion 52have a lining 27 of plastics, preferably Nylon®. The lining has a smoothinner side. A recess 28 extends from the outer side of the portion 26and opens at the inner side of the lining 27. A cylindrical means 29 isfixed with the aid of a screw (not shown) to the lower end of the shaft13. The means 29 has axially, advancing grooves 53, as shown in FIG. 3,and is received in the lined cylindrical space of the portion 26 witheasy running fit to the wall of the space. At the lower end the lining27 has an enlarged cylindrical portion so that a gap 57 is formedbetween the lining and the periphery of the means 29, in which gap therope 21 is receivable, while being slightly pinched between the lands ofthe means 29 and the lining 27. The rope running along the sleeve 23 isdrawn in from the outer side of the sleeve to the gap 57 via the recess28. Part of the periphery of the rope within the gap 57 will touch themeans 29 at the lower end of the shaft 13 and upon rotation of thecylindrical portion 26 the rope will be drawn towards the downwardlyfacing outlet opening of the gap 57 and discharged from the winding head25 in the form of a coil having a diameter that normally slightlyexceeds that of the winding head.

FIG. 1 shows a container 31 into which the rope 21 is to be packed. Thecontainer 31 is cylindrical and has a likewise cylindrical tube 32upstanding from the bottom, whereby an annular space is defined in thecontainer 31. The radial extension of said annular space slightlyexceeds the diameter of the winding head 25. The rope 21 is intended tobe placed in said coils in said annular space by rotation of the windinghead 25. To achieve this the container 31 must, however, be rotatedabout its axis, as will appear from FIG. 1, and at the same time bedisplaced vertically downwards.

To have the container 31 effect said movements a support means 30 isprovided, which on its upper side has support and holder means 33 forretaining the container 31. A threaded shaft 34 is connected to theunderside of the support means and extends coaxially with the container31. The shaft 34 is rotatable with the aid of a pulley 35 via a centralfastening 36 therein. The pulley 35 is rotated by means of a V-belt 37and a drive pulley 38 engaging said V-belt. The pulley 35 with thefastening 36 is mounted in a holder means 39 which is connected to theframe 10 and at its underside has a bushing 41 with a hollow cross-pieceprovided with a threaded portion 42 engaging the threads of the shaft34, which by means of a handle 43 can be moved into and out ofengagement with the threads of the shaft 34. Upon rotation of the shaft34 by means of the pulley 35 the shaft will also move axially because ofits engagement with the threaded portion 42. The engagement between theshaft 34 and the central fastening 36 of the pulley 35 is a frictionalengagement which does not prevent the shaft 34 from moving axially.

A disk 44 having a central opening of slightly greater diameter thanthat of the tube 32 and an opening for the winding head 25 is carried byarms 45, 46 of which the latter is pivotally connected to the frame 10and rockable by means of an eccentric 54. The purpose of the disk 44will appear from the following.

For rotation of the drive pulleys 18, 38 gearings 47, 48 are provided,which are driven by means of a shaft 49 in turn driven by a V-beltpulley 51 via a worm gearing 50. Instead of the gearings 47, 48 and 50many other possibilities to drive the pulleys are conceivable.

The described machine is used in the following manner to pack a rope 21into the container 31. First, the rope 21 is drawn via the tube 24, theouter side of the sleeve 23 and the recess 28 to the gap 57 in thewinding head 25. Preferably, a sufficiently long rope length iswithdrawn from the winding head 25 to permit being placed along theinner surface of the container up to the upper edge and folded aboutsaid edge, such that the lowermost end of the rope is accessible. Then acontainer 31 is placed on the support means 30 and fixed in correctposition. By detaching the threaded piece 42 by means on the handle 43the shaft 34 can be urged axially upward until the winding head 25 isadjacent the bottom of the container 31. Then the threaded piece 42 isagain engaged with the threads of the shaft 34 by swinging of the handle43. The machine is now ready for start.

When the machine is started the supporting device 15 is caused to rotatewhereby the reel 20 is rotated about the shaft 13 as indicated at 20'.By this rotation the rope 21 drawn down to the winding head will betwisted or turn about its own axis, which generally is a prerequisitefor its being discharged in a correct manner from the winding head. Theportion 26 rotates because of its connection with the supporting device15 via the sleeve 23 and the connecting means 22 at the same speed ofrotation as the reel 20 and the rope is discharged via the gap 57 in aportion 26 in coils from the winding head 25, as indicated to the leftin FIG. 1. At the same time the container 31 is rotated very slowly viathe support means 30 and the shaft 34 so that the coils are arranged ina uniform layer in the container 31 about the central tube 32 thereof.When the container 31 has rotated a full revolution it hassimultaneously moved a distance downwardly approximately correspondingto the rope thickness owing to the engagement of the threaded shaft 34with the threaded piece 42, and a new layer of rope coils is placed onthe layer already laid. The rope coils are placed below the disk 44which has the task of pressing the laid layers together from above. Ifnecessary, the disk 44 can be adapted to oscillate axially in that theeccentric 54 actuates the arm system 45, 46. When the winding headapproaches the upper end of the container 31 the packing is interruptedand the container 31 can be removed after further lowering, if any, ofthe support means 30 by release of the threaded piece 42 and cutting ofthe rope 21.

With the aid of the machine according to the invention it is possible topack a rope in the above-described manner in a fraction of the timerequired for manual packing of the rope. Besides, packing takes place inan extremely advantageous, safe manner and it has proved that the ropelength which can be packed is considerably longer than that which can bepacked in the same container by hand. The drawing shows a specialcontainer with a central tube, but it is obvious that applying theinvention one can pack the rope also into other containers and for otherpurposes than that mentioned in the introduction.

I claim:
 1. A method of packing a rope (21) into a container (31) insuch a manner as to permit easy extraction of the rope therefrom,comprising the steps of providing a supply reel (20) of rope (21);providing a container (31) wherein rope withdrawn from said supply reel(20) is to be coiled; providing a winding head (25) having a fixedcentral piece (29) and tubular pulling means (26) disposed about saidcentral piece (29) so as to define a gap (57) in which said rope (21)may be frictionally received, said pulling means (26) being rotatableabout said central piece (29) to cause rope received in said gap (57) tomove at least part of a turn about said central piece (29) and exit froma lower end of said gap (57) as a coil; positioning said winding head(25) relative to said container (31) so that said coil has a centresituated between the centre line and periphery of said container (31);connecting rope (21) from said supply reel (20) to said winding head(25); rotating said pulling means (26) about said central piece (29) towithdraw rope (21) from said supply reel (20) and coil the rope (21)within container (31); rotating said container (31) about its axis andsimultaneously moving said container axially relative to the windinghead (25); and rotating said rope (21) about its longitudinal axis onits way into the container (31).
 2. A machine for packing a rope (21)into a container (31) in such a manner as to permit easy extraction ofthe rope therefrom, comprising a frame (10) with a shaft (13) fixed atits upper end and extending a predetermined distance verticallydownward, a supporting device (15), means for rotatably mounting thesupporting device (15) on the shaft (13), a rope reel (20), means forrotatably mounting the rope reel (20) on the supporting device (15),support means (30) for supporting the container (31) such that a centreline of the container (31) extends parallel to and is laterally spacedfrom the fixed shaft (13), whereby said fixed shaft projects into thecontainer (31) with an axis of said fixed shaft situated in a spacebetween the centre line and periphery of the container, a rotary windinghead (25) on a free end of the fixed shaft (13) projecting into thecontainer (31), said winding head having rotatable means (26) forwithdrawing the rope (21) from the rope reel (20) and for coiling therope with the coil centre situated between the centre line and peripheryof the container, first rotation means (16-18) for rotating the reelsupporting device (15) and said rotatable means (26) of the winding head(25), and second rotation means (34-42) for rotating the support means(30) with the container (31) and for simultaneously axially moving thesupport means (30) vertically downward.
 3. A machine as claimed in claim2, including a cylindrical sleeve (23) received over the vertical fixedshaft (13), said sleeve (23) having an upper end rigidly connected tothe rope reel supporting device (15) for rotation with said supportingdevice and having a lower end cooperable with the winding head (25). 4.A machine as claimed in claim 3, wherein the winding head (25) comprisesa tubular means (26) connected to said lower end of the sleeve (23) anddefining a cylindrical space, and a substantially cylindrical abutment(29) mounted on the fixed shaft (13) within said cylindrical space anddefining together with an inner wall surface of the tubular means (26)an annular gap (57) in which the rope (21) is receivable while beingslightly pinched between said abutment (29) and said inner wall surfaceof the tubular means (26), said gap having a lower open end from whichthe rope, after having described at least part of a turn about theabutment, is dischargeable as a coil upon rotation of the tubular means(26) relative to the abutment (29).
 5. A machine as claimed in claim 4,wherein the rope reel supporting device (15) has a tube means (24) forguiding the rope (21) from the reel (20) to the outer surface of thesleeve (23) and wherein said tubular means (26) has a recess (28) incommunication between said gap (57) and said outer surface of the sleeve(23), the rope being introducible into the gap (57) via said recess(28).
 6. A machine as claimed in claim 4, wherein the tubular means (26)has a lining (27) of plastics and the abutment (29) has axiallyadvancing grooves (56) in its peripheral surface.
 7. A machine asclaimed in claim 2, wherein the support means (30) of the container (31)is fixed on a vertical threaded shaft (34) rotatable by means of adriven wheel (35) coupled to said threaded shaft, said threaded shaftbeing in threaded engagement with a threaded portion (42) connected tothe frame (10), whereby rotation of the threaded shaft (34) by saiddrive wheel (35) causes said threaded shaft, and thus the support means(30) and the container (31), to move vertically downward, and whereinsaid machine further includes means (43) for swinging the threadedportion (42) into and out of engagement with the shaft (34).
 8. Amachine as claimed in claim 2, including a disk (44), means connected tothe frame (10) for supporting said disk (44) within said container (31),said disk (44) having an opening through which the winding head (25)extends, and means (54) for oscillating said disk supporting means (45,46) longitudinally of the container (31) to abut said disk (44) againstand thereby pack the rope (21) coiled in the container (31).
 9. Amachine as claimed in claim 2, wherein the container (31) has a centralaxial sleeve (32) which defines an annular space in the container (31)to receive the rope coils.